College sports: Louisville headed to ACC, source says

The Atlantic Coast Conference's presidents and chancellors have voted unanimously to add Louisville as the replacement for Maryland, a person familiar with the situation said this morning.

The Atlantic Coast Conference's presidents and chancellors have voted unanimously to add Louisville as the replacement for Maryland, a person familiar with the situation said this morning.

The person said that ACC leaders also considered Connecticut and Cincinnati during the past week before choosing to add the Cardinals from the Big East. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the ACC has not publicly discussed future expansion plans.

The vote came during a conference call of ACC presidents and chancellors, the person said.

It's unclear exactly when Louisville will join the ACC. The Cardinals will be the seventh Big East school to leave for the ACC in the past decade.

This latest rapid-fire round of realignment was set off last week by the Big Ten's additions of Maryland and Rutgers, which will join that conference in 2014.

Yesterday, the Big East added Tulane for all sports and East Carolina for football only, also beginning in 2014.

Adding Louisville would bring the ACC to an even 14 full members, with Pittsburgh and Syracuse beginning conference play in 2013.

Two months ago, the ACC announced the addition of Notre Dame for all the conference's sports but football, with the fiercely independent Fighting Irish committing to play five ACC football opponents each season. Most of Notre Dame's non-football sports have competed in the Big East since 1995.